Back in June 2016, I started a new "series" of posts... if you will...

And so on Wednesdays; I've been posting an old photograph to inspire your creativity.

Write a poem!

Plot out a short story.

Have inspiration for a piece of art or composition.... let your artistic soul shine.

--and occasionally I write my own sordid story or poem.

(you can click on the photos in this post to make it larger to see).

~~~

Naomi lay awake. The moon was not the same as it had been the night before, and she knew it.
She knew it as clearly as if the stars themselves had fallen down around her,.. and in an essence they had... for her beloved Richard was no more. Fallen dead, in the mud... they said. This, the great war, the war they said would end all wars.. and yet... had it really solved anything?
Naomi thought not. It hadn't helped her and poor Richard.
What was this life for... when the one you loved the most was no longer here to share it with?
What was the purpose in an ugly, unnecessary death?

The sun was streaming in her window. It was fall.... but there was still a hint of summer in the air.
She put on her petticoat and her best dress. She tied up her Sunday boots.
She brushed her hair, and adorned it with the comb Richard had given her before he left...
faux turtle shell with rhinestones, it glistened in the morning sun.
She packed a small bag, stepped out the door and began walking.
It took her 2 weeks. 2 weeks of endless walking.
2 weeks of singing to herself, of sleeping by the dirt road in the trees. Of snacking on apples as she walked by the farms.
But she made it. She made it to the ocean.
And she sat.
She thought of all the dreams they had had. She thought of what her life had been up until this very moment. How it hadn't been easy.
How she had been raised as an orphan in a family who simply wanted help on the farm.
How she never truly knew love until she saw it reflected in Richard's eyes.
"Do you believe in a love that will last forever?" he had asked her.
Until that moment, she knew the answer would have been no.
They spoke of poetry and art, of nature and books.
That was a year ago... and she hadn't been the same since he left.
Did he not know how much she needed him?
How he gave her strength to carry on? How his mere existence lifted her soul in a way that no other could...

She opened her satchel, and ate some bread. The crust was dry and flavorful...
or perhaps it was the salty ocean air that made her ponder the sweetness of her meager lunch. Birds flew overhead.
She thought of all that could have been.... and dried her tears with the tips of her gown.
She took off her boots, and sunk her toes into the sand.
The grittiness of it all surprised her.... she had never felt the sand before... and it was excruciatingly beautiful.
She undressed to her petticoat and camisole. It was exhilarating to feel the wind on her arms.
She pondered what it would be like to fly... as she walked into the oncoming waves.
It was a good day... a good day. .. and she knew that indeed, she would be loved forever.
She cast her cares into the ocean... and smiled.